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CALGARY - One of the country’s best-known and most successful entrepreneurs says it’s critical that Canadian businesses have an online presence in this day and age. Calgary-based W.Brett Wilson, known also for his work in the past with the Dragons’ Den television show, said it is his observation that we are on the cusp of even greater growth in the use of online tools.

CALGARY - Googe Canada announced Wednesday that Banff has received a Google eTown Award for 2014, recognizing communities in the country whose businesses are embracing the power of the web to grow and fuel their local economies. “The web helps people everywhere discover the best of what’s around the world or around the corner,” said Sam Sebastian, managing director of Google Canada, in a statement. “As Canadians live more of their lives online, the small and medium businesses that boldly embrace digital are finding new customers, growing their businesses and succeeding in an increasingly connected world.”

Fresh apples will be ripening between two downtown condominium towers as a developer aims to give Calgary a more fruitful and dynamic city centre. The Orchard on Twelfth is a two-tower project at the southeast corner of 12th Avenue and 5th Street S.E., just northeast of Stampede Park. Lamb Development Corp. of Toronto is planning two 31-storey buildings, which will nestle a one-acre orchard of apple trees between them on a 61,000-square-foot land parcel.

CALGARY - The average consumer debt in Calgary, excluding mortgage, is the second highest in Canada, according to a new report. TransUnion’s quarterly analysis of Canadian credit trends, released on Wednesday, found that the average consumer’s total debt in the city in the third quarter of this year was $37,920, behind Vancouver at $40,174.

About 80 per cent of Edmontonians are reportedly satisfied with the ParkPlus machines being tested in the city’s core, but Calgary’s meters will have no edge in next year’s bidding war to become the capital city’s parking service provider. Edmonton announced Wednesday it will extend through January a ParkPlus trial program that was going to end this week, but then the Calgary machines will be removed, perhaps to return in fall 2014 if Calgary Parking Authority wins a competitive bid against other parking technology firms.

Rather than tap city reserves that sit at record levels, Mayor Naheed Nenshi wants to use two years of the controversial $52-million tax hike in anticipation the province and Ottawa won’t fully cover Calgary’s flood recovery costs. The plan, released Monday, is facing early resistance from his colleagues because it presupposes the Redford government’s pledges aren’t reliable and seems to defy the public consultation council did before the disaster.

Canadian voters would flock back to the federal Liberals if an election occurred now with Justin Trudeau as party leader — making them contenders to defeat the Conservatives and form government, a new poll has found.

Long before she became involved with U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, Vancouver native and political activist Mira Oreck has been urging people to wake up. That is the message of the viral pro-Obama video featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson that Oreck had a large hand in creating, and it’s also the story of her life.

Paige and Trevor were already starting to dread the thought of back-to-school. The morning rush to get their three kids fed with something healthy and out the door on time was always a battle. In the rush, Trevor often skipped breakfast and Paige felt guilty that what she was eating and feeding her kids was far from optimal.

An overwhelming majority of Canadians feel politicians in Ottawa have little or nothing in common with them and don't believe the political elite in the nation's capital understands the values and aspirations of average people, a new poll conducted for Postmedia News reveals.

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